A section of the Keystone Pipeline is leaking... 6

[JohnRBaker]

It appears that a leak has developed in a section of the original Keystone Pipeline:

Kansas oil leak shuts down massive Keystone Pipeline

https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/kansas-oil-leak-shuts-down-massive-keystone-pipeline/

An excerpt from the above item:

The massive Keystone pipeline has been shut down after oil was found to be leaking into a Kansas creek.

TC Energy said it shut down the pipeline at 8 p.m. Wednesday after a pressure drop in the system. Crews are responding to “contain and recover the oil,” the company said in a news release.

“Our primary focus right now is the health and safety of onsite staff and personnel, the surrounding community, and mitigating risk to the environment through the deployment of booms downstream as we work to contain and prevent further migration of the release,” the company said. It didn’t say how much oil was spilled or what caused the spill.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
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[1503-44]

Argus

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2399117-keystone-pipeline-shut-after-14000-bl-spill-update

Keystone pipeline shut after 14,000 bl spill: Update
Published date:
08 December 2022

Share:
Adds size of spill, EPA involvement, crude pricing.

Canadian midstream company TC Energy halted flows last night on the Keystone Pipeline system in response to a leak of about 14,000 bl of oil.

An emergency shutdown was initiated at about 9pm ET on 7 December for the line that runs from Hardisty, Alberta, to the US midcontinent after a pressure drop was detected in the system. Personnel and equipment were dispatched after the release of oil into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, about 20 miles (32km) south of Steele City, Nebraska.

"The system remains shutdown as our crews actively respond and work to contain and recover the oil," the company said. It plans to try to recover the spilled oil

No information was given as to when the pipeline is expected to be restarted.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it has dispatched personnel to investigate the scene, noting surface water of Mill Creek had been affected.

Earlier in the day Canadian heavy crude prices in Hardisty were down to a $33.50/bl discount to the Nymex WTI calendar month average (CMA) for January-delivery before mostly recovering to near a $27.75/bl discount by session's end.

January WCS at Hardisty was assessed at a $26.45/bl discount on 7 December.

At the other end of the pipeline, prices of light sweet crude rallied before falling back.

In September the Keystone system transported a record 640,000 b/d.

The pipeline was last shutdown in mid-November when the company declared a force majeure because of severe weather that was hampering operations.

By Brett Holmes and Stephen Cunningham

==============================
REUTERS

WINNIPEG/CALGARY, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The largest oil spill in the 12-year history of TC Energy Corp's (TRP.TO) Keystone pipeline, discovered late Wednesday, raises questions about special permission it received five years ago to run at higher pressure, making it unique among U.S. oil pipelines.

Keystone is responsible for three spills of at least several thousand barrels in the last five years, all of which have occurred since Keystone was allowed to run the line at higher rates to move more oil. This week's spill of 14,000 barrels in Kansas is sure to raise alarms over future pipeline development, as U.S. regulators had already increased scrutiny of pipeline construction due to previous Keystone spills in 2017 and 2019.

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All three spills are among the 20 largest crude accidents in the United States since 2010.

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Keystone, which opened in 2010, carries more than 600,000 barrels of Canadian crude oil to the United States, serving refiners in the Midwest and U.S. Gulf, along with exporters out of the Gulf. After decades of reliance on oil from the Middle East, most U.S. imports now come from Canada.

The pipeline suffered few incidents in its early years, but since 2017, the number of spills increased after TC Energy received a special permit from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to operate at a higher stress level than other lines.

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Bill Caram, executive director of the non-profit watchdog Pipeline Safety Trust, questioned whether that permit may be behind the run of serious incidents that followed.

"Even when you normalize for incidents per mile and for barrels spilled by throughput, we’re still seeing more failures here than the industry standard," Caram said.

TC Energy did not respond to requests for comment.

TC Energy proposed a second line known as Keystone XL in 2008, but after 13 years of local and environmental opposition and regulatory battles to get it built, President Joe Biden cancelled its permit after taking office in January 2021.

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A HISTORY OF ACCIDENTS
Keystone's accident history has been similar to other crude oil pipelines since 2010, but the severity of spills has worsened in recent years, a 2021 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said.

After the 2019 spill, the GAO commissioned a report of the line's problems, which has caused pipeline regulators to more heavily scrutinize the construction process.

The GAO report noted that PHMSA allowed TC Energy to start operating the line at 80% of what's known as specified minimum yield strength - the point at which steel pipes will start to deform. No other U.S. crude line can operate at more than 72% of that level.

"I think a lot of scrutiny is going to be placed on the special permit," said Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Alliance, an advocacy group that fought Keystone XL. "That high pressure is causing more wear and tear."

In a June 2021 letter responding to the GAO report, TC Executive Vice-President Leslie Kass said PHMSA's 51 conditions on TC "offset any potential risk" associated with running Keystone at a higher stress level, and the GAO report notes that several safety consultants made similar assessments.

PMSHA did not respond to a request for comment.

Running at higher rates is worth investigating along with possible operator error or material failures, said Dennis McConaghy, who retired from TC Energy as executive vice-president of corporate development in 2014, when it was known as TransCanada.

John Stoody, vice-president of government relations at the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association said special permits come with numerous different operating conditions. Engineers look at factors like pipeline wall thickness and grade of steel to determine what the system can handle, and must get approval from PHMSA.

"If anything there are complaints from industry about how lengthy the special permit process is. It's an extremely rigorous process that PHMSA operates," he said.

Keystone's three biggest leaks occurred during fall or winter, but Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, said there is nothing to suggest cold weather increases the likelihood of pipeline leaks.

Due to activist opposition to new pipeline construction, operators have every reason to try to move as much oil as possible through existing lines, TC Energy's McConaghy said. TC Energy had recently increased the amount of oil running through the line to test operations on the system.

"The economic driving force to pushing that envelope is always going to be there," McConaghy said. "It's up to PHMSA to determine whether that is something that's prudent."


Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[MJCronin]

"The GAO report noted that PHMSA allowed TC Energy to start operating the line at 80% of what's known as specified minimum yield strength - the point at which steel pipes will start to deform. No other U.S. crude line can operate at more than 72% of that level"

... and there are solid engineering reasons why you do not want to operate close to that hairy edge of design ...

Pipelines are not watches ... Just because you are operating under minimum yied strength does not mean that your entire pipeline is absolutely safe ... epecially over long periods of time.

Perhaps this might be a good time to review why the people who wrote the Pipeline design code selected 72% of minimum yield as the consensus limit ...

MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer

 

[dik]

Our Prime Minister Turdeau is big on pipelines and tar sands work...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[1503-44]

It always pissed me off that they allow certain gas pipelines to 80%, if there is nobody living around them. I have never been a proponent of that practice. It obviously does not prevent leaks. Especially given TC past problems with leaks, this is not the pipeline to start cutting back on any safety measures, or to start writing up special operating permits.

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[hokie66]

This just shows that the new pipeline stopped by the Biden Administration is required. Pushing infrastructure beyond its capacity is bound to result in failures.

 

[1503-44]

Keystone XL flatlined years ago. And more, expensive Canadian oil, topping off an already flooded American market was never going to fly. Dakota Access PL was constructed, but that's American oil.

GAO Full Report 38 pages here.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-588.pdf

I don't think this is a case where operating pressure was actually increased to allow a higher flow rate. The Report says that "a stress level of 80%" was allowed. It did not state specifically that operating pressure was increased. The 80% stress was more likely the result of using a thinner wall pipe. The Report did not give details, but with all the pipe replacement going on during the last years, it would seem that the new pipe was of thinner wall, such that it's stress reached the 80% level at the same operating pressure as before. As such, it would seem that there was to be no increase in flow rate, just a reduction of wall thickness. That would also be consistent with the way gas pipelines are designed using design safety factors that increase in critical areas and reduce in non-critical areas (those areas with less population, etc,). Normally the max stress is limited to 72% SMYS, but 80% is allowed in "very non-critical" areas under the special permitting regime, resulting in a common operating pressure, but different wall thicknesses of pipe. Thus the pipeline's pressure is not increased, flow rate is not increased, only a cheaper, thinner wall pipe is used in remote, non-critical areas. The end result is that's just making more money for the pipeline company by using cheaper pipe in a few places. The shippers, or consumers don't get more flow.

PHMSA in part justified their issuing of the 80% permit by comparing TC's recent operating history to other pipeline companies, which was determined to be better than the national average. That determination IMO was somewhat questionable, as PHMSA discounted a number of accidents that occurred on company property. Since those did not affect public safety, they were not counted in arriving at the conclusion that issuing the permit was justified by TC prior operating record. If all accidents were counted, TC would ptobably not have made that grade. If you include a 10yr history, they could be one of the worst offenders. A special permit issued under those circumstances might be interpreted as simply a license to kill, except for the remoteness of the area concerned. Neither does it, in my mind, make any sense to replace problem pipes with thinner wall pipe. The most common problem encountered along pipelines is corrosion and thinner pipe, even if it was higher strength steel, does not help a corrosion problem. That is also true for stress corrosion cracking. Lower strength, thicker pipe, higher safety factor, reduced stress, is better. I do seem to have a problem with that special permit.

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[pmover]

well, I'm certain the regulatory authorities along with TCE will determine the cause, whether related to design, construction, or otherwise and address corrective action.

 

[1503-44]

According to PHMSA preliminary investigation, attached, the pipe involved was
36" diameter pipe 0.465" wt MAOP 1440 psig
X70
They were running an internal inspection pig at the time.
Pig is downstream of the event location.
-----------------
=> Design Factor was 80%



Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[1503-44]

A Google Earth location file

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[JohnRBaker]

An update:

In Kansas, crews contain largest-yet breach of Keystone Pipeline

The oil spill near Washington, Kansas, prompted operators to shut down an extension of the pipeline, which brings Canadian tar sands crude to U.S. refineries.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...argest-yet-breach-keystone-pipeline-rcna61196

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[davefitz]

Long pipelines flowing oil or gasoline are also subject to "waterhammer" damage events, espescially if the valving is controlled by a DCS- refer to the 1999 Bellingham washington gasoline pipe failure , initiated when the DCS server switched to the backup server, leading to a fast closure of the stop valves. That pipeline was only 100 miles long, while the Keystone pipe may be many times longer.

It may become suspicious that these energy related failure events ( including power substations) follow the destruction of the Nordstream 2 undersea pipeline

"...when logic, and proportion, have fallen, sloppy dead..." Grace Slick

 

[LittleInch]

These things should have been sorted during design, but if they hadn't long pipelines actually suffer less as the shock wave attenuates as it travels. Longer lines also tend to run a bit slower.

More interestingly and maybe coincidence but an internal inspection tool had apparently just gone past that location.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[jayrod12]

Our Prime Minister Turdeau is big on pipelines and tar sands work...

Was this intended on being sarcastic? Because if not, I believe there's an entire province of people that would disagree with you that Trudeau is pro Tar Sands or pro pipeline.

 

[1503-44]

Presumably a Transient analysis was conducted. That's been SOP for 25yrs.

I have yet to find documents for the old Keystone. XL keeps popping up.
This is for the XL pipeline, but the design would be similar. See Ch 2.1 and 2.2
Interestingly a provision is mentioned concerning a pressure of 1308 psig at pump discharge, requiring 0.467" wt (DF=0.72), yet the PHMSA Preliminary Report mentions 1440 psig (0.465" wt@ 80%).

Apparently up to 1600 psig would be allowed at low points, where 0.572" wt would be used (DF=0.72), or 0.515" wt 0.80 DF.

State dept Archive of XL Pipeline ES

https://2012-keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/finalseis/index.htm

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[cranky108]

I would have thought that the fast closing of a valve would open a diversion for the energy to reroute to. But I guess things in the fluid world happen so much slower than the electrical world.

From what I have seen of hydro generation, when a trip happens, the diverters engage in front of the guns, and stay until the valve closes. At the same time the circuit breaker opens, with it's internal snubber for the arc plasma.

For a steam plant, the main steam valve closes, and the blow-off opens.

Why can't a pipeline shut down faster?

 

[1503-44]

We try to keep max transient pressure below pipe allowable to avoid the need for relief valves and tanks, etc, etc. whenever possible. Usually a little higher wall thickness is cheaper. Pipelines need slow velocities to minimize long distance drag, hence pump stations are 100mi apart. Turbine water moves fast, so high transient pressures are not containable within the pipe and surge release valves and bypasses to downstream are needed.

We try to keep surge pressure low by using a rule of thumb of 1 sec/inch-diameter valve closing rate. Faster shutdown time is most often limited by how long the monitoring system takes to confirm a leak has occurred and activate the shutdown sequence. I think this took, was it 9 minutes? I have to look at that again. Fortunately these were probably motorised valves.

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[cranky108]

I think you are right, to a point. Lower head hydro may not use diverters. Ours are high head, and I have seen 1200 PSI, so water hammer is a big problem.

 

[1503-44]

Even with low head, high velocity would help. With power gen, it seems that you just can't get away from water Hammer.

I found the Keystone Phase 1 ES.
Note this is a 30" diameter, mainline size, used for the route from Canada to Steele, Nebraska. The 36" diameter begins south of Steele. The wall thicknesses in the box need to be proportioned to the 36" size by multiplying by 36/30, or 6/5.

Emergency response 140min detection time to alarm with a 9 minute shutdown,
It takes 140m for the pressure to be affected enough for the transducer to pick it up as a pressure loss caused by suspected leakage. As this says, the minimum detectable leak is around 25,000 gal. The pipeline lost 14,000 barrels, so that failed rather spactularly.

Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

 

[jayrod12]

14,000 gallons, or 14,000 barrels. I thought it was barrels.